http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7188412Oh my.
Uh, wasn't this news like, about two months ago?
BurtWorm (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 12:34 PM
Original message
Injured 550-lb man, unable to afford health care, dies waiting for a 'Job miracle'
This is American health care at the very roots: If you don't have money, you better pray for a miracle.
http://www.ksn.com/content/news/also/story/Man-dies-aft...
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (NBC) -- Believing his faith would heal him, a Greenwood County, South Carolina man sat down in his recliner after an injury in March and never got up.
On Thursday, his wife explained why he stayed in the recliner until shortly before he died.
"The man totally believed in God and his healing," said Ada Webb.
In March, Webb's 550-pound husband, Tillmon, sat down in a recliner inside their trailer in Greenwood. Wearing nothing but a blanket, the 33-year-old didn't move from that recliner for the next eight months.
"He couldn't do nothing for his self and I couldn't do but so much," Webb explained.
Webb says Tillmon tore his ACL in March and drove to a doctor's office.
"They were gonna give him an appointment, but they wanted $300 up front, and we didn't have the money," said Webb.
Webb says he returned to the recliner, picked up his Bible and became determined that faith would heal his leg.
"He read his Bible daily, he spent his full focus on God," said Webb. "And he was literally waiting and praying for a Job miracle. If anybody knows the Bible and knows Job, he really and fully believed that God was going to heal him just like he did Job, because he said he couldn't think of a better testimony to go out and to tell people."
It's a monstrously large bonfire.
fujiyama (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 12:38 PM
Response to Original message
1. Wow talk about all bad American stereotypes rolled into one
The man was a religious nut, obese, and had no health care. Talk about a recipe for disaster!
SoCalDem (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:15 PM
NOMINATED FOR TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Reply #1
21. and yet it sort of proves Darwin's theory too..
there are free clinics and there are also agencies who would have helped that man, but he decided to do otherwise..and paid for it with his life
winyanstaz (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:28 PM
Response to Reply #21
30. free clinics do not exist in all parts of America..and exactly what agency in his area would have helped him?
undeterred (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:54 PM
Response to Reply #21
43. I am so sick and tired of these "Darwin" posts.
Its a dead giveaway that the poster is quick to judge and low on information.
SoCalDem (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:58 PM
NOMINATED FOR TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Reply #43
49. feel free to not click on them , then.. and please don't get sick.. it's dangerous in the US
tired can be cured by a nap
Zoeisright (789 posts) Wed Dec-09-09 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #43
52. Thank you. And BTW, for all the 'Darwin' posters - severe depression, which this person probably had, is MORE debilitating than end-stage heart disease.
Judging is for assholes. And repukes.
And on it goes.....
Cali_Democrat (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:04 PM
Response to Reply #2
9. It was a torn ACL that kept him immobile
It looks like it was his bible reading that killed him when you think about it. He stayed in that chair for 8 months and his wife kept feeding him and he went from 550 to almost 800 pounds. All that time he was reading his bible.
I have never heard of someone dying from a torn ACL.
BurtWorm (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:08 PM
Response to Reply #9
15. Interesting observation. Death by Bible.
readmoreoften (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 03:34 PM
Response to Reply #15
110. After Death Sentence By Poverty
Lance_Boyle (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 03:50 PM
Response to Reply #110
117. Not so sure on that - see post 81
The guy couldn't afford $300 to see a specialist, but died with a broadband-connected laptop in hand watching cable TV. That's poverty of priorities, there.
dustbunnie (936 posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:03 PM
Response to Original message
7. Well, since he died 300 pounds heavier dead than when he went into the recliner
it looks like she did plenty for him.
marshall (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:53 PM
Response to Reply #7
42. That recliner has got to be nasty!
I'm surprised his skin didn't grow into it.
sinkingfeeling (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 02:00 PM
Response to Reply #42
50. It was. From the full story...
"They say he was stuck to his chair, and they had to saw the recliner apart. They cut a large hole around the front door to get him out."
The gigantic primitive:
Systematic Chaos (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:04 PM
NOMINATED FOR TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Original message
8. I could write a novel in response to this post, but I think I'll just bookmark the thread...
...and save it for later.
BurtWorm (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:05 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. I'm seeing it as a sort of opera
Systematic Chaos (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:06 PM
NOMINATED FOR TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Reply #10
12. Care to clarify?
A Fat Che in the punch-bowl plops up to the surface:
dwnorman (9 posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:09 PM
Response to Original message
17. Nothing to do with "American health care at the very roots"
This man did not die from a torn ACL. This man died because of the choices that got him to 550 lbs. When did Americans give up responsibility for themselves? His preexisting condition was his inability to say "no" to himself. I know, I'm a fat slob too. If I did less eating and more exercising I'd be a lot better off, but it is still my choice. I was just denied life insurance because of the choices I have been making the last 30 years.
Should I blame the insurance company? They are in business to make money. And if they weren't then all the people who work for them would be out of jobs. It's no different than a college or a restaurant, if they don't turn a profit they close the doors. If you own a business you are doing the same thing. The lawn service company doesn't cut the grass if they don't get paid. The teacher doesn't teach if he/she doesn't get paid. And the doctor doesn't see patients who don't pay or have insurance.
Why is it yours and my responsibility to get this guy medical insurance? And besides, if he was so poor that he could not afford insurance, there's medicaid, or if he's disabled there's social security.
UpInArms (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:22 PM
Response to Reply #17
28. nasty visualization going on here -
eating, shitting, texting sermons and reading the bibble in a loungechair for eight months
Marr (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:09 PM
Response to Original message
18. Am I to understand the man was sitting in his own filth for eight months?
She couldn't roll him over to use a bed pan, and he was sitting in a recliner. And all the while, he's talking about God's perfection. There's a loaded image for you.
A primitive finally gets around to asking franksolich's question:
mikelgb (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:18 PM
Response to Original message
23. sorry to be blunt but, where did he shit?
dustbunnie (936 posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:19 PM
Response to Reply #23
25. On himself. She had to hand clean him.
When the paramedics arrived to come get him at the end, they noted the foul odor.
BurtWorm (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:21 PM
Response to Reply #23
26. Same as the 800 lb gorilla--wherever he wanted.
Lance_Boyle (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 01:21 PM
Response to Reply #23
27. same place he urinated - where he sat.
I can't believe it took 8 months for the infections to kill him.
dustbunnie (936 posts) Wed Dec-09-09 02:22 PM
Response to Reply #67
70. The original articles at the time said he was seen at a hospital.
They told him to make an appointment with some doctor, then the paramedics took him home. They warned him that if they moved him onto the recliner he would never get up. The man insisted anyway. And of course, he couldn't get up. His idiot wife has also said that there were many resources available to help, but they couldn't find anyone to help get the man there. That was the issue, transportation... not the lack of medical help per se.
TrogL (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 02:12 PM
Response to Original message
59. Reminds me of a joke
A man was shipwrecked and washed up on an island.
A passing yachtsman saw his plight and offered him a lift home. "Nope, God will rescue me."
Time passed. A cruise ship, noticing his cooking fire, sent a dinghy over. "Nope, God will rescue me."
A passing helicopter got the same response.
Eventually the man starved to death. At the Pearly Gates, he demanded of GOd, "why didn't you rescue me?"
Spake God, "well, I went you a yacht, a cruise ship and a helicopter and turned me down. What did you expect?"
FarCenter (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-09-09 02:47 PM
Response to Reply #64
83. PS -- Note that in this case, both people had health insurance
So access to health care does not prevent this type of tragedy.
